Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Rockabill Roseates on TV

As reported back in August, many of our tern colonies were hit hard this summer by a combination of poor weather and predation. The colony of Roseate Terns breeding on Rockabill, off Skerries in North Dublin has been going from strength to strength however. This is due to a combination of determined wardening along with the provision of hundreds of specially constructed nestboxes, the result of which being an all time high of 1,200 breeding pairs of this threatened seabird species in 2012.

Lots of birdwatchers contact us to ask if they can
visit Rockabill to see the tern colony for themselves. It's off limits to
visitors however, but thanks to the team from RTÉ'sNationwidewe are at least able to bring you the next best thing:
this Friday's programme will include a special feature about the tern colony.
Nationwide presenter Ann Cassin came over to Rockabill in July to see the
chicks take their first flight, and the programme will also showcase the great
work of BirdWatch Ireland and NPWS staff and volunteers, with contributions
from our Fingal Branch and Balbriggan Community College students who make many
of the tern nextboxes for us.

Tune in toNationwideonRTÉ One at7:00pmthisFriday, 28th Septemberas we bring you all the sights and sounds (if sadly not
the smells!) of this incredible seabird colony.